Kevin Pietersen has sensationally opened the door for an England comeback in limited-overs international cricket, admitting he would "love to play for another three or four years in all forms of cricket."

It is understood that Pietersen's representative privately met ECB officials to discuss a return on Thursday night. Pietersen is also thought to have met Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, earlier in the week.

Asked whether negotiations into his England return in all three forms of the game were ongoing, Pietersen replied: "I think so."

Pietersen did not disguise his discontent with the way he has been managed by England, matters that would surely have to be resolved if he was to make a smooth return into the England side.

He complained that he had "never been looked after" by the England management and insisted that his schedule would have to be eased before he consented to a return.

Pietersen, speaking moments after he finished the third day of Surrey's Championship match at Guildford unbeaten on 234, reiterated his desire to be included in England's World Twenty20 squad in Sri Lanka in September.

The selectors meet this weekend to pick a 30-man preliminary squad for the tournament and must submit it to the ICC on July 18. England enter the tournament as defending champions.

Pietersen retired from limited-overs international cricket at the end of May. While he wanted only to retire from the 50-over game and to continue to play T20 cricket, the terms of England central contracts state that for a player to be considered for either format of limited-overs cricket, they must be available for both.

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"I've always said I want to play in the T20," Pietersen said. "But I needed to get away from the schedule. I cannot keep playing every single day's cricket. I've never been looked after. I cannot keep playing every warm-up game, I cannot keep practising every single day. There comes a time when I know what I need to do to be successful. I've got a young family and I cannot be on the treadmill all day every day.

"I've said before that, if the schedule was right, if they could sort my schedule out, I would love to play for another three or four years in all forms of cricket. But the schedule at the moment is a nightmare."

Morris was an influential figure when Pietersen lost his job as England captain more than three years ago after a breakdown in his relationship with England's coach at the time, Peter Moores, broke down. Moores was also sacked.

England's unease will be all the greater because Andy Flower, England's director of cricket, has referred to similar tensions in balancing his professional and personal life because of the proliferation of international cricket.

A return to one-day internationals for Kevin Pietersen appears unlikely which means his ambitions to play in the World Twenty20 will continue to be scuppered with Andy Flower, the England team director, sticking to his original stance on the issue.

Over the week Pietersen has said he wants to play "three or four" more years in all international formats providing a schedule he is happy with can be negotiated with the ECB. Initial meetings have taken place with the board, but they do not want to be in the situation where a senior player is seen to be picking and choosing when he plays on his own accord.

Pietersen continues to believe the demands placed on him if he plays all three formats are far too great. However, claims that "I've never been looked after" appear a little wide of the mark given the security that comes with central contracts and the support he has had when injured.

Pietersen's retirement from ODIs meant he became ineligible for Twenty20 international selection as the ECB central contracts stipulate players have to be available for both formats. England need to submit a 30-man World Twenty20 squad to the ICC by Wednesday so time is running out for the situation to be resolved in Pietersen's favour.
Flower, a man of principle who counts loyalty as a major factor, does not see a way back for Pietersen. "As things stand at the moment, no, there isn't,"he told the Mail on Sunday.

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"The situation is the same as it was when he first approached us. The ECB are determined to protect all three formats of the game and part of that is not setting a precedent of allowing players to retire from one-day cricket alone.

"The intent behind it is that we are serving English cricket in its entirety," Flower added. "We have to take personalities out of the equation. We all are lucky enough to have the choice about what we do. There are many people in this world that aren't lucky enough to have a choice. Here we're talking about a sporting situation and we all have our choices. I don't have to sign a contract with the ECB if I don't want to."

In the week leading towards the start of a major Test series against South Africa, which will determine the No. 1 ranking, Pietersen's stance has created a talking point that Flower wishes was not around.

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"Situations like these make it a little more complicated," he said. "It doesn't mean that they can't work but it does make it a little more complicated. And I tell you one thing, none of us can afford for these types of issues to be distractions."

Geoff Miller, the national selector who is in charge of putting together the preliminary World Twenty20 squad, said if Pietersen was fully committed to 50- and 20-over cricket he would be welcomed back in the team but his name had not been involved in recent selection discussions. "My job is to pick players who are available," he said.

Kevin Pietersen could have played his last game for England after launching an astonishing attack on the ECB and other members of the England dressing room.

Pietersen, who has been unsettled for some time by the demands of the England schedule, refused to confirm that the final Test of the series against South Africa at Lord's could be his last and expressed his anger that private conversations between him and officials at the ECB had been leaked to the media.

His comments are sure to be poorly received by those at Lord's and by his England colleagues. With a vital Test looming it is far from impossible that Pietersen could be disciplined or even dropped in an attempt to retain a semblance of team spirit within the England camp.

"I can't give any assurances that the next Test won't be my last," Pietersen said. "I'd like to carry on but there are obstacles that need to be worked out. There are other points I'm trying to sort out in the dressing room.

"It would be a huge shame. I love playing Test cricket for England, but we'll see. For me, the saddest part about all this is that the spectators just love watching me play and I love playing for England."

Pietersen confirmed that some of his issues concerned a desire to play more IPL cricket, a wish to spend more time with his family and his enthusiasm to be included in England's World T20 squad. But he also insisted that there were "a lot of other issues that are more important that are being sorted".

"It's absolutely 100% not about money," he said. "This is not a money issue. The politics is what I have to deal with personally. It's tough being me playing for England.

"There's always speculation. There's speculation every single day. You guys speculate about my life all day every day. I'm going to make some decisions that will make me very happy."

Pietersen's current cause for concern is the leaking of information he regarded as private. Admitting that it revived memories of his sacking as England captain at the end of 2008, when Pietersen believes that his private concerns about the then England coach, Peter Moores, were also leaked to the media, he seemed to suggest that public opinion was being manipulated against him.

"It was blamed on me that before this Test series I was grabbing the headlines," he said. "Did I leak anything to the media about the meetings I was having with the ECB? I never spoke to the media for one single second and it was me grabbing the headlines and journalists talking about me grabbing the headlines. I never spoke a single word to a single journalist about anything that happened behind closed doors that I thought were closed doors. So you guys are always going to speculate and make me out to be the bad guy. No problem."

The catalyst for the latest controversy in a career that has seen more than most - including his dismissal as England captain and his departures from Nottinghamshire and Hampshire - is the prospect of a new round of annual central contracts in September. Pietersen, who effectively retired from international limited-overs cricket in May after expressing a reluctance to make himself available for all ODIs, has also requested that he is allowed to miss the Test series in New Zealand in March in order to play a whole season of IPL.

While he insisted that, in a perfect world, he would like to continue to play for England in all forms of game, his desire to pick and choose his series is most unlikely to be tolerated by the ECB. The ECB, citing the importance of treating all players equally and the dangers of setting a precedent, demands that players are available for all matches if they are to be considered for any.

Andrew Strauss, the England captain, was reluctant to be drawn on Pietersen's words. He did, however, underline the fact that the needs of the team would remain more important than the needs of the individual and that it was vital England were not distracted ahead of a Test that will confirm which is the No. 1 ranked Test side.

"One thing I will say, and it is important to stress this, is that the Team unity that we have had over the last three years has been outstanding," Strauss said. "It is something we all pride ourselves on, always have done and will continue to do so going forward.

"I hope the Kevin issue isn't going to be a distraction. The truth is we want as few distractions as possible in making sure we win this third Test match. I'm not here to talk about Kevin Pietersen. It is not something I want to talk about at this stage."

now, Why I'm not suprised with this news?!!! If I just skip this specific English drama, I wonder how many of those international cricketers really inspired with passion & drives to play for their country!? Those big named stars from NZers, WIndian, SAfricans, heck yeah even Aussies keep falling for IPL, whats the future lays.

Simply incredible! Obhiman and futani tinged with the right amount of nyakami. Had no idea that their KP's such a fan of our natok. Maybe I should send him Faruki's 420, the box set.

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"And do not curse those who call on other than GOD, lest they blaspheme and curse GOD, out of ignorance. We have adorned the works of every group in their eyes. Ultimately, they return to their Lord, then He informs them of everything they had done." (Qur'an 6:108)

A real shame. No doubt he's a great player but England would do better without this stuck up drama queen. In the end, the team comes 1st and it seems he's just in to himself. It won't be easy to replace him but I'm sure Morgan or Bairstow can replace him.

__________________12.6 Syed Rasel to Sangakkara, OUT: What a delivery, completely fooled Sangakkara, first five delivery were the outswingers and now, this one comes in sharply, Sangakkara tries to left it and ball hits the off stump, top class bowling!

Here's another guy whining about workload, but at least he isn't "threatening" to quit, he has already announced it.

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Ireland fast bowler Boyd Rankin has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the year as he bids to play Test cricket with England. He is the third leading Irish player to do so, following Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan.

Rankin, 28, from Co Derry, has played 79 times for Ireland and was a star of the 2007 and 2011 World Cups. "There's been lots of sleepless nights recently," he told ESPNcricinfo. "It was a very difficult decision, but I will be retiring from playing cricket for Ireland after the World Twenty20, as I feel I can't continue to play the amount of cricket I have been playing with Warwickshire, England Lions and Ireland over the last few years.

"I have genuine ambitions of playing Test cricket and I have to give myself the best chance to do that by reducing my workloads as a fast bowler and concentrating on playing cricket for Warwickshire."

This was long over due. But I think he just threw his international career down the drain, Rankin is good but the current England bowling line up specially in test is one of the best one out there and I don't see it changing anytime soon. Anderson, Broad, Bresnan, Tremlett, Finn, shehzad and more.

I think England will be more interested in George Dockrell.

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"I was the happiest man in the world, happier than Bill Gates"- Tamim Iqbal

Clearly playing test cricket will reduce his workload! Guy just wants to quit on his country. Did Mo Odumbe did that to Kenya? Heck if he'd ditched Kenya and say emigrated to BD, we would have won a few more Tests and ODIs by now.

i think it's ridiculous that a player can't just play t20Is and tests if he chooses to. the ECB tbh should be embarrassed, they could have avoided all this by allowing him to stop playing 50 over cricket and play the other formats, what's so wrong with that? they obviously wanted him in the ODI team and tried to use T20Is as leverage to get him back there but when he decided to retire anyway they got mad thus not putting him in the t20 WC prelim squad which then would have made pietersen feel even more wrongly done by since he basically ended up caving to them anyway and then they snubbed him.

i don't know who put it to the media, kevin says it wasn't him so if it wasn't then he really has been treated poorly, if it was him then this is what happens but no doubt the ECB have handled it wrong.

it would be bad for cricket to lose KP, he's a great player, wonder if he would ever go back to south africa? he'd be in contention for a spot in that team but it would be no certainty, could bring a new chapter to KP's already terrific test career and turn him into an even better batsman having to fight for a spot.

KP might be trying to get headlines but he's definitely not been treated fairly imo, at least not in regards to playing just t20s and tests, however wanting to pick and choose the tests he plays is too much, you're either available for that format or you aren't, can't pick your own schedule that's just not how it works and not reasonable.